A Prank Gone Right
by fazzems
Summary: Natsu finally manages to throw a somewhat successful prank on his best friend. NALU


_Eh, just an idea that came to me a few nights ago. Unabashed Natsu fluff. Please review and let me know what you think :)_

* * *

**A Prank Gone Right**

The morning of April 1st, Lucy woke with a start at the sound of something hitting her window. She blinked her eyes rapidly as they adjusted to the early morning sunlight, looking to the window and seeing nothing but sky. She sighed and sank back into her bed, watching some dust float in a stream of light, refracting pretty colours onto her wall. She mumbled something incoherently as she readjusted her blanket around herself, flipping over and halting as she saw a material glinting on her desk.

Regrettably, she dragged herself from bed and approached the mysterious object, immediately identifying it as a key, and a celestial one at that! Next to it sat a note scribbled in messy handwriting

_Dear Celestial Wizard, I herd you are great with spirits and I had this key so please take care of it.  
-Sir Williamth Johnathan the Grate_

Lucy cringed at the spelling errors and flipped over the key, examining it closely. It genuinely looked like a celestial key, despite the crude drawing of entwined dragons breathing fire on the handle. Her brow twitched in annoyance as she realized the obvious perpetrator who had placed this in her house.

"Natsu," she growled lowly, casting glances around the room as if she'd find some shoes poking out from underneath a curtain.

It was April Fool's Day, of course he would do this. She picked up the note skeptically, making a note to chastise him on his basic spelling and trying to sound too fancy. How dumb did he think she was? She distantly remembered Natsu's history of bad pranks, how they were always so tactless and predictable he always got found out. This time, Lucy knew exactly what to do to get him back for trying to get Virgo to dig a pit of glue and feathers for her to fall in.

On a sudden whim, Lucy decided that she would teach him this lesson sooner rather than later.

"Well," she exclaimed with fake chipper, "Better summon the spirit so I can make a contract!"

She waited and heard nothing. Then, raising the key into the air, declared: "Open: Gate of the Dragon!"

Immediately, Lucy flung her arm over her mouth, coughing furiously as grey smoke filled the room. Her eyes watered as she strained to see, hearing a soft landing behind her before whirling around.

As the intruding smoke began to clear, Lucy wiped her eyes, anger raised as she was suddenly face to face with what appeared to be a poorly-made dragon costume with dangly red wings jutting from the shoulders. He wore black from the shoulders down, and tufts of pink hair jutted out from underneath a ski mask that Lucy inexplicably wanted to tuck back in. She felt her cheeks heat at his pose – he was almost… cute. She quickly steered away from those dangerous thoughts and focused back on the real issues - like, what a frustrating person that Natsu was, almost suffocating her and now half-assing a costume? Seriously, he must think her a fool.

"Idiot, are you serious, I could've choked to death!" she roared.

"Oi, you summoned me, Miss Lucy?" Natsu's eyes were alight with mischief, and she could tell he was smiling behind his mask.

Lucy inhaled deeply before coughing again, deciding upon her next actions with an inward smirk.

"How did you know my name?" she gasped, oozing with fake awe.

"Well," he faltered, "I'm not your everyday spirit!"

"Your name then, Dragon?" she inquired, stepping closer to him. His onyx eyes bore into hers as she could practically hear the wheels turning in his head.

"Drag…" he trailed off after a long silence.

_'That's creative,'_ Lucy sighed.

"Drag the Dragon!" Lucy exclaimed, noting the relief in his eyes as she pretended to take his bait.

'_Drag the Dragon?' _she thought furiously, _'That the best you can do, Natsu? Oh, you're really going to get it.'_

On the outside though, she was all smiles, "So Drag, how about a contract with me? You do know how to do that right, being no ordinary spirit?"

"Yeah, why don't you start us off," she heard his voice suddenly from her kitchen.

"SPIRITS DON'T NEED FOOD!" she barked, steam out of her ears when she saw him sifting through her fridge. He closed it immediately and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Lucy took another breath and tried to find her composure. Seriously, he wasn't even trying.

"Anyway, so you start off by swearing your allegiance to me!" she smiled sweetly, then quickly added "You do that by talking about how awesome I am and how inferior you are to me, of course, but you already know that! And then you do the ceremonial worm, a challenging dance move that only a worthy celestial spirit can do, and then, well, we'll get to the rest later."

After a few minutes of unbearable torture on Lucy's part as she couldn't laugh at the pink-haired dragon lest it betray her cover, Natsu stood up and she could swear there was a sheen of sweat of his forehead. At least he was giving it his all, but he was frowning and she could tell he wasn't having as much fun as before.

'_Good,'_ she declared inwardly, he should feel awful for trying to prank her anyway, although she did feel a little bad. He puffed out his cheeks as he blew out a big breath. She grinned and thought of a few more trials she could put him through.

"Okay, last but not least, before our contract is finally done-"

"Enough!" Natsu suddenly shouted, and then his eyes crinkled again with a smile.

She softened at his expression, but then came to sudden realization.

'_Mavis_,' she thought with a frown. He was going to say April Fools before she did! If she let him do that, her saying she was playing along as a joke wouldn't sound genuine and he and Happy would never let her hear the end of it.

"I got really got you good, Luce, Apri-"

"Kiss me!" she blurted out.

His words died in his mouth.

"W-what?" his arms dropped by his sides and she could see the tops of his cheeks warming up underneath his black mask.

She could feel her own cheeks beginning to match the shade of his but tried to ignore it as she let the implications sink in for a while. She enjoyed the silence, for the longer she let it go on, the more stressed Natsu's expression came. He opened and closed his mouth a few times and she could hear those wheels turning again.

"The last trial for the contract, as between all spirits and wizards," her smirk grew triumphant as Natsu's eyes became unreadable. She noted with a slight irritation though that Natsu seemed awfully pained at the idea of having to kiss her, what a baka.

"You did that with Loke?" he yelled incredulously.

She bit her lip and nodded her head, wanting to see his reaction. Underneath the cloth of his ski mask, Lucy could see his jaw set and his eyes narrow. His hands clenched into fists at his sides and suddenly Lucy felt her stomach flip, from what she guessed to be nervousness. She gulped and decided to relieve the tension, switching to a carefree smile.

"April Fo-MMF!"

All it took was three bounds for Natsu to reach her, ripping off his mask before smashing his lips onto hers. Her eyes were still open in shock as she inhaled sharply through her nose at his searing kiss. She could see his eyes closed, eyebrows pointing down in angry lines. Despite his hot lips, she felts shivers trembling down her spine and she thought she might fall down. In fact, that's what she did, right in his arms.

"Lucy!"

_'What the hell was that?' _she wondered from her spot on the ground, eyes wide and fingers touching her still-tingling lips.

Then, she realized she could voice that concern outloud. "NATSU, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"

"I-I, well," he licked his lips before pausing and repeating, "Natsu?"

He laughed lowly, "You knew the whole time? Guess the jokes on me, hey."

At his downcast voice, Lucy felt herself melt as she picked herself back up on her feet, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms. Her heart wouldn't stop pounding and she absently wondered if he could hear it. She didn't know what to say, but she desperately wanted him to come closer so she wouldn't have to say anything. What did this even mean? She was confused, and looking upon his expression, she'd have to say he looked the part as well. In fact, he seemed deep in thought until his eyes sharply met hers again.

"Natsu," she breathed.

"Screw it," he blurted out, and thankfully closed the space between them again, suddenly pinning her against the wall and kissing her hard.

She felt like she was going to melt into the wall as she lifted her fingers to run them through his pink hair, one of his hands settling on her face and gripping her tightly as if he let her go she would disappear. She returned his kiss with equal vigor, and, not wanting to think of the later consequences, pulled him closer to her by his open vest.

He broke away much too soon, his eyelids low and predatory.

"I really wanted to do that," his voice didn't sound like his own. She couldn't resist it another second, and leaned back in. His arms wrapped around her waist again and she drew him closer still, the warm embrace chilling her to the bone.

"Natsu," she said against his lips.

He grumbled his response, burying his head into her neck and placing soft kisses there. She gasped softly, grabbing his cheek and directing his lips back to hers.

"You're mine now," she murmured with a tiny smile, feelings warm in the pit of her stomach.

Distantly, Natsu remembered "the last trial" and shrugged in acceptance. In his mind, this was one prank finally gone right.

**THE END**


End file.
